so in about two weeks i’m doing a massive amount of maintenance items and have finally acquired the approx. $3k in parts! (actually, waiting to get the jhm phenolic spacers, missed out on getting them on sale for 250 a while ago, hoping they will be again soon, and did anyone notice their exhaust sale price jumped up $350 to 2250?)…anyway, i’m doing a carbon clean, replacing coils, plugs, air filters, adding phenolic spacers, replacing water pump and related parts - tensioner, idler, etc. and adding jhm crank pulley, changing transmission fluid/filter, new adams rotors/pads/lines…so question is - valve cover gaskets, if they’re not leaking, should i replace them now? is there labor savings of doing them while doing the carbon cleaning? i wasn’t planning on replacing the fuel injectors unless mechanic finds it necessary, not sure if their shop is capable of cleaning/flowing/resealing them or not (or if their cost to do so is more than jhm’s set minus core charge, or a new set from rockauto for $900)…so if you’ve done the VCG’s, let me know when you’ve done them…thanks!
I’d replace them. It’s not hard to do when the engine is back together, but since you have the coils removed ect… it’s a good time to do it. I think they’re $30 a piece too, so not super expensive.
There’s a few tips about adding some silicone to the bottom edges and on the spark plug tubes. I’m sure someone can chime in.
That’s a strong list.
The spacers are going to be a really big long term help both in performance and motor health.
The adams rotors are not the greatest. They are very prone to crack but if your not really hammering on the car you should be fine.
Somethings to think about
A fuel filter as the fuel pressure regulator is in the fuel filter.
Look into the oil separator.
If you do the brakes make sure to bleed the brakes
The injectors are one of the major things to look into. Its not if you should clean them but when. Injectors are the top reason for misfires and poor running cars. On all of the cars I have looked at low flow injectors and the cylinders with the low flow have been damaged by weaker compression
If you look to independenly get the injectors cleaned make sure they are cleaning and testing them over 1500psi other wise 5bar is what companies usually clean them at. 5 bar is idle.
As for the valve cover. Its a tough call. inspect the heads and the seals. If you don’t see any leaks its not a bad idea to consider just leaving them alone. But its hard to call because from time to time you will see issues where people do maintenance and after the work they see leaking valve covers.
ITs easier to do the valve covers with the intake off and the upper throttle body out of the way. So its something to consider. Also when you have the intake off make sure to inpsect the oil rings under the oil filter housing.
Personally I would do them. Mine started leaking on one side, replaced 1. then 3 weeks later the other started. Lot of stink and smoke for something so small. The gaskets were quite hard and brittle when i pulled them out. 90k miles on them. Also yes may as well since coils will be out, as well as having the TB plenum and intak eout of the way will give you a touch more room to maneuver around back there
all good points…yes i am doing fuel filter, pcv, and probably a few other things i didn’t mention - there’s a lot!
the car has about 122k miles and not sure what previous owner did for maintenance, so probably a good idea to do the VC gaskets. as for the injectors, was really hoping not to have to spend another $600, but i suppose if i’m doing all this other work, might as well do it if necessary, the car is starting to stutter a bit on acceleration, my mechanic said a while ago that a coil or two needed to be replaced…so, if my shop is capable of cleaning them properly, resealing them, etc., may end up costing more than buying them (the reseal kit alone is like $45/each injector)…thoughts on buying new ones from rockauto for $900 vs. $600 for jhm’s refurb’d ones? i had asked jhm if they’d buy my injectors from me as i was planning on buying new ones, but they said to contact them after they were replaced to see and didn’t give me an answer, so if in the end they don’t, just wondering if new ones would be worth the extra $300 than theirs. their core charge is $600 when buying theirs, so heck, i’d probably take $500 and be quite happy!
Buy the injectors from FCP and get them replaced for life. That’s what I did. In another 30k miles I’ll get a new set.
wow - thanks for the heads up on fcp, that’s a great deal, and their injectors aren’t much more than rockauto’s…i should just bite the bullet and do it and hopefully jhm will buy mine from me…either way, really can’t go wrong with that
FCP…whats that. why would they replace injectors for life. I assume you need to send back your original set.
JHM usually needs to see the injectors before they make any offers. Some people really mangle them on removal. So its hard for them to say anything. Then they need to get them tested to make sure they are saveable. So while I do think they would be happy to help take the old injectors off your hands I would think they would need to see them first.
Also be careful with getting new injectors. If you do some research even new injectors out of the box can be flakey. make sure your not getting the cheaper off brand injectors.
Remember While some injectors have split part numbers that might cross refrence to other cars what has been proven with at least the RS4s is that the OEM Audi brand injectors might be a few dollars more but it appears that the specs and standards that Audi has for the injectors will make a universal injector different than its counter parts.
FCP sells the OE Hitachi injectors. That’s what I installed 35k miles ago. You need to send in the parts they sold you when replacing with their new set.